You can click any of the pictures in this article to see them in larger detail. Simply click ‘back’ in your browser to return to the article.

Open the site where your blog is located and click Log in. If your web administrator has not setup the menu to include a ‘Log in’ link and other Meta data you may want ask them about doing it, or about getting a direct link to the admin area.

Enter your username, password, and click Log In to continue.

Click New Post at the top of the screen.

This the Add New Post page, where you can add a title, content, tags, and categories to your posts. Enter a title in the box at the top. Enter your post content into the larger white box in the center. For this specific WordPress install enter words into the Post Tags box automatically plugs them into the articles keywords. Keywords are used by search engines to categorize and place your posts. Keywords should go along with whatever the content of your article is. For example if you were writing an article on baking bread you might have keywords like this: flour, baking, bread, bread yeast, brown sugar. Each phrase is separated by a comma. Entering some phrases separated by commas and clicking add will add the keywords to your article. If you blog about similar content you can click Choose from the most used tags in Post Tags and it will display your most common tags. Tags you use more often will appear in a larger font. Click any of the words or phrases to add them to your post.

The menu highlighted as 1 to 9 allows you to format your blog post. The following list explains each button by number.

• 1. Bold – Highlight some text and click the B to make your text bold.
• 2. Italic – Highlight some text and click the I to make some text Italic.
• 3. Strike Through – Highlight some text and click the ABC to Strike Through the text.
• 4. Unordered List – Creates an unordered bullet list.
• 5. Ordered List – Creates an ordered numbered list.
• 6. Blockquote – Select some text and click “ to create a Blockquote.
• 7. Align Left – Select some text and click to align it to the left.
• 8. Align Center – Select some text and click to align it to the center.
• 9. Align Right – Select some text and click to align it to the right.

A red zig zag under something you typed is telling you that your word is most likely not spelled correctly. Right click it for suggestions.

• 1. Add an Image – Click to add an image.
• 2. Add Video – Click to add video.
• 3. Add Audio – Click to add audio.
• 4. Add Media – Click to add media.
• 5. Insert Link – Highlight some text and click this to add a link. It will ask for the URL, target (like the same page, a new page, etc), and title.
• 6. Unlink – Select text that currently has a link assigned to it and click this button to remove it.
• 7. More – This is used to hide the bulk of your article from the main page of your blog. I usually write a short introduction and possibly add a photo before clicking the More button. Anything below the More tag can be read from the main page by clicking the article itself or by clicking Read the rest of this entry »
• 8. Spell Check – Click to check the spelling of your post.

This portion covers adding a photo to your post. Click the spot in your article where you would like to add the photo and then click menu item 1 Add an Image.

Select the image you would like to add from your computer and click Open to continue.

Enter an Image Title, Alternate Text, Caption, and Description. I usually skip the caption, because the caption code isn’t currently XHTML compatible as of this post.

The default settings are fine, so click Insert into Post. If you would like to change the way text wraps around your image you can click one of the options such as Left. The text will then wrap around your photo as indicated on the thumbnail. I would recommend the default of none to start with.

If all went well you should see your image in the post now.

Scroll down the page a bit to see the Categories box. Categories help you categorize your posts into categories and subcategories. Click Add New Category and enter something such as Art. Click Add.

Select your previous category from the drop box and type a subcategory into the box above it. Click add.

You can now see your category and subcategory in the box above. Any category or subcategory with a check box will be selected for the article you are creating. You can even make subcategories on top of subcategories if you wish.

In the top left Posts menu you will see Categories. Click it to open the Categories editor. Here is where you move, edit, and delete categories if you make any mistakes from the Post Editor.

Click Edit under the Posts menu to see all of the posts and drafts you currently have on the site. If you have multiple blog users you can see who created each article under the Author category. Categories, Tags, and the number of Comments on each article can also be seen from here.

This is the end of the crash course on making a WordPress post. I’ll be posting more advanced articles shortly, like how to use HTML to style your post.

Keep reading for a photo guide on dis-assembly and re-assembly.

This post is a tutorial on adjusting focus on a Helios 44M lens. It also covers cleaning the focus mechanism for smoother action. I’m going to start off by showing you a few photos of what the adjustment looks like. The lens on the left has been adjusted so that my adapters can be used for infinity focus. It will actually focus a bit past infinity, but if you wanted to play with it I’m sure you could get them focusing exactly to infinity.

*Tutorial Begin*

We start off by removing the 3 screws that hold the back on and gently removing the back. If you have a lens adapter screwed on you’ll need to remove that first. I hooked mine into a 2x multiplier to make it easier to unscrew.

Remove the inner aperture ring. You may also want to remove the outer aperture ring as well. If you do remember that it isn’t easy to get back on with both bearings. I just use one, because it feels much smoother to me (and it’s easier to put back on).

You’ll now need to remove the focus ring. It’s held on by 3 tiny screws. You can see one of the between the 2 and 3 in my photo. DON’T REMOVE THEM. They’re a pain to get back in and very easy to lose. Just back them out enough to slip the ring off.

Use the screwdriver to remove the front ring. You should be able to catch it in one of two tiny holes and twist it counter clockwise. Once you get it loose just spin it in circles with your finger until it falls out.

Remove the 3 screws holding the filter ring on and take it off. You may want to start wiping off excess grease and oil buildup at this point.

At this point I used qtips lightly covered in Ronsonol to start breaking up grease inside the lens. You may want to wick it out into a cloth or towel so you don’t saturate the insides of the lens in Ronsonol.

Manually turn the focus on the lens to expose the threads. What I did was take it over to the sink, hold it sideways, and let Ronsonol run into the threading a few times. I then manually turned the focus back in and out to work it in. You’ll want a cloth handy to wipe off the excess and get the now broken down grease/oil out of the lens assembly.

Once everything is moving freely it’s time to adjust the focus. Focus the mechanism back until the two tabs (top and bottom in the above photo) are lined up with the top of the groove they ride in.

Reinstall the focus ring and turn it until infinity lines up with the red line. It should noticeably stop at that point and shouldn’t be able to go any further. Tighten it down.

This is an important step. Turn the focus ring the other direction until it stops. If you don’t the filter ring will bind when you tighten it down.

Reinstall the filter ring and tighten the 3 screws down.

Turn the focus back toward infinity and you should notice it stopping a bit before you ever get close. Once you have it as far as it goes loosen the focus ring and turn it so that infinity lines back up. Tighten the ring down again.

Reinstall the front Helios 44M ring onto the lens.

Reinstall the inner aperture ring. It should line up on two shafts coming out of the aperture housing.

Reinstall the Aperture ring. I only use one bearing to make the action smoother and make it easier to put on, but if you want to try both bearings go for it. They fit into a hole with what appears to be a tiny spring in it.

Reinstall the back of the lens. Watch and make sure the A/M switch arm is hooked onto the aperture rod. Put the 3 screws back in and tighten it down. If you flip the A/M switch and nothing happens you either didn’t hook it to the aperture rod, or you need to clean the aperture. I have a tutorial for doing that here.

You should now have your Helios 44M reassembled and working great. The above shot was actually taken with another Helios 44M that I recently repaired.

Keep reading for a photo guide on dis-assembly and re-assembly.

This is going to be a quick guide on how I fixed the Auto/Manual switch on both of my 44M lenses. They were purchased from EBAY with non-functioning automatic diaphragms, but they were both easy to fix. Keep reading for a visual guide. Also, if you are interested I have a guide on adjusting and cleaning the focus on Helios 44M lenses here.

What you need:

• Ronsonol – lighter fluid in a yellow bottle designed for removing grease and tar. I got mine at Wal-Mart, but you apparently need to be 18 to buy it).
• Q-tip (s) – for applying the Ronsonol to the aperture blades
• Micro Fiber Cloth – for removing Ronsonol, grease, tar, and other bits of grime from the blades. These also work great for cleaning lens elements due to how well they pickup dust. I usually buy them in a large pack in the Wal-Mart automotive section. They’re designed for cleaning cars, but are the same as more expensive ‘lens cleaning cloths’.
• Small Screwdriver – flat blade from an eyeglass kit or electronics repair kit. You’ll need this to remove the rear screws from the lens.

As you can see above I have two different 44M lenses. According to this link the lens to the left was manufactured in the Valdai Optical-Mechanical Factory and the lens to the right was made by Krasnogorskiy Mechanicheskiy Zavod (KMZ). Oddly enough, the Valdai seems to be of a heavier build and has a metal ring hooked into the aperture ring instead of plastic like on the KMZ model.

The first step is to remove the three screws holding the back onto the lens. Don’t remove the fourth screw that holds the A/M switch in.

Gently pull the back off of the lens to expose the rear element. At this point be VERY careful not to lift up the aperture ring. It has two tiny ball bearings that make it ‘click’ as you rotate it and it’s a pain to get them both back in.

I would also like to show you the rear of the Valdai lens. Notice the ring that hooks into the aperture selector is metal instead of plastic like the KMZ above.

At this point you should be able to grip the rear portion of the lens assembly and gently unscrew it. I didn’t have to use any force on either of my 44M’s to take this part out. Just to clarify I’m talking about removing the rear element and its inner element in one piece. If you happen to notice debris trapped between the two you can unscrew the inner from the outer and clean them. Just be CERTAIN you get the rearmost element back in the same direction you took it out.

This is what we’re going to use to break up and remove all that cold war era junk from the aperture blades. I put some on a q-tip and touched it on a rag to wick some of the excess liquid off. After that I touched it all over the aperture blades (after manually closing them as close to F16 as they would go). I would them open/shut them manually to work the fluid in. Be sure not to scrape the q-tip along the blades or press too hard. Scraping it along will catch fibers in the blades. Gently dabbing will still deposit plenty of cleaning fluid without worrying about it hitting the glass element below.

After applying fluid and manually operating the blades to work it in I took a Micro Fiber Cloth like the one above and gently wiped the blades. It seemed to work best when they were closer to F16, due to more blade being exposed. Don’t press too hard or you could damage the blades. You just want enough pressure to get the gunk off. You may even need to repeat the process a few times, but you should see black grunge coming off onto the cloth.

When you are satisfied that you cleaned the blades, or want to give it a try stick the rear portion of the lens back on. You’ll need to watch where the catch on the A/M switch is to make sure it hooks onto the aperture arm. You should also be able to trigger it with the A/M switch before putting the three screws back in. If the blades still hang you may need to clean it a bit more. If it works put the three rear screws back in like you took them out and it should be good.

You can see the blades on my lens here from the front. It closes much tighter than when I purchased it and much smoother to boot. Playing with the aperture ring before cleaning it I think the lowest F-stop I could get was about F5.6.

This next part is optional or possibly required if you knocked the bearings out of the aperture ring.

*OPTIONAL*

When you rotate the aperture ring it locks via the help of two tiny metal bearings. Getting them both back in is a pain, as you have to fit them into a little recess and slip the ring back over. I actually found out I like the ring better with only one bearing. It’s easier to adjust and seems to make less noise. In order to use one bearing place one of the bearings into the hole as shown above. Then line up the aperture ring with the bearing and slide it down onto the lens. You’ll need to keep it off the bearing until it bottoms out on the lens and then push it inward toward the bearing, otherwise you’ll most likely knock the bearing out.

Kodak’s color developer requires a temperature of 100F to work properly. It’s supposed to be within 1/4 of a degree of that temperature so you have to act fast. All I did was make a hot water bath in the kitchen sink then set all of my chemicals that needed to be hot into it. Everything except for the stabilizer should be 100 + or – 5 degrees. Like i said before, the developer should be as close to 100F as you can get.

In order to measure this I placed a thermometer into the bleach, since it would be less likely to become effected by oxygen exposure. I also had to put some tape on top of the thermometer so it wouldn’t fall down into the chemical.

Flexicolor Guide

The flexicolor guide has all of the development times and other information you might need if you decided to do this.

The 4 chemicals you will need are developer (3 parts in one kit), bleach, fix, and stabilizer. I accidentally purchased bleach ‘starter’ at first and its not what you’ll need to develop. You will need bleach III – it has a red appearance and comes pre-mixed. I would advise to store them in air-tight glass or collapsible plastic containers. Your chemicals will last much longer if they don’t get exposed to oxygen.

I have a gallery of photos from my first C-41 roll here: DIY C-41 Color

You can see my chemical containers in one of the photos as well as some of my other development equipment. I keep all of my B&W chemicals in similar jugs, but you have to cool those down to 68F instead of raising them to 100F.

Another difference is there are 2 wash cycles inside the process instead of a single wash cycle at the end. I also chose to wash again at the end to remove any excess stabilizer on the film. Is that necessary? I don’t know – it might even be bad in the long run, but I haven’t had much luck finding answers. Everybody seems quite mum about C-41.

For those of you not familiar with a ‘soft box’ – remember those strange umbrella things the photographer used for your high school photos? That is the basic idea behind a soft box – you either bounce a light off another surface – like the metal plated umbrella – or shoot it through a diffused material like cloth. I’m going for the latter of the two – diffusion. Diffusion creates a softer light than directly shining it onto something, which is great for photos.

As you can see in the following photos, I’m planning on an angled wooden frame – most likely covered in a white canvas. The main problem here is I’m not allowed to have anything ‘hideous’ or in the way. It has to appear natural and not show up in any photos if possible, but at the same time I need as much ‘natural’ light as possible for the videographer – and for the photographer(s) so they don’t need a flash.

Again, for those of you not familiar with flash – it washes out any natural light that might be around, or worse make the people look washed out. Of course, you could digital correct it to a point, but I prefer to just not worry about it.

Here’s the bulb I’m planning to use: 105 Watt Compact Fluorescent

It’s a bit long at nearly 12 inches, but that shouldn’t be a problem if I position it back in the housing. You’ll also notice the color of light it produces is 5000K, which is around the same color a typical camera flash produces.

I’m going to install it in a standard ‘incandescent clamp light’ that you can find in the hardware section of any wal-mart. This way you can clip it onto the center board you see inside the bottom section of the light box and move it back/forward to adjust it – and you can also swivel the light any direction you need it to face. Having all of the faces semi-transparent means it will stream out diffused light in all directions.

This may require some rather heavy canvas to keep it from being too visible – so I’m going to test out my idea using a 430W projector lamp I’ve got at the house. Although, I wouldn’t recommend using a halogen on something covered in cloth because it gets SO hot. Fluorescents burn almost cold, so they’re great for this purpose.

I’m going to shoot for a pure white canvas to cover this box with. Otherwise I’m afraid it would change the color of light it produces. Here’s some screenshots of the sketch I’ve done. Keep in mind this isn’t very – to scale. I’ll probably make it about 2 feet wide – across the face of the light assembly – by about a foot deep. I may also change this to a triangle/squared shape or entirely squared – you get the basic idea though.

The following is on its way:

• Kodak C-41 Developer
• Kodak Bleach
• Kodak Fix
• Kodak Stabilizer
• Six 1/2 Gallon Collapsible Chemical Containers
• A second light-tight film tank with 2 convertible film reels

I’m in the process of finding a suitable warming device for the water, because you have to keep the chemical at 100F while developing. Not 100% sure what I’m going to use yet, but I’m going to check out some aquarium heaters before I spent a bunch of money on an actual darkroom heater.

I need to be good with color chemistry, because my wedding is coming up soon. I’ll have 11 disposable cameras to develop at 27 photos each. Thats 297 just from those plus the B&W film in my 35mm and whatever digital shots my parents shoot on the K10D. I’m also not sure what guests are going to be using/bringing.

This scanner is awesome, with a few minor exceptions. It does up to 4800 by 9600 DPI as well as scans in 35mm or medium format slides and negatives. As you can see from the photos, it has a removable white cover that you can insert when you want to scan something other than negatives.

From the photo on the left you can see the various front panel functions of the 4490. The right photo shows the adapter plates for film negatives and slides. The scanner comes with two: one for 35mm and one for 120mm medium format. While I have yet to try the 120mm adapter, the 35mm works great. You can insert two negative strips at once and the scanner software automatically picks up each negative as a different photo. You can also do some basic editing to and pick which negatives you wish to scan in, so you don’t have to take them blindly. Now, onto something I don’t like, the ICE system.

You can see what the ice system does on the right. It just plain looks bad to me. Perhaps I haven’t figured out how to use it just yet, but I set it for quality instead of speed, so you think it would produce something tolerable. Overall, I really like this scanner. It makes beautiful scans of my negatives that only require minor touchup in photoshop to get rid of things like dust spots or small scratches. Buy one, you won’t regret it!

Updates:

I have tested out the 120 scanner plate quite a bit now. I’ve used it to scan 6×6, 6×9, and even some odd sized negatives. The negatives that come from my J610 are actually close to 6×10.5. The scanner handles all of these sizes just fine, but you’ll want to use it in manual mode. I’ve noticed I can actually dry and scan 120 faster than 35mm without any strange warping/curling on the negatives.

You can see some of my 6×6 samples here.

I often see people carrying around Digital SLR’s that cost more than pretty much everything I own, but they take horrible low light photos. I’ve been doing low light without a flash for quite a while now, so here are some tips.

1. High ISO Speed – Put your camera on the highest ISO speed that it still looks acceptable. I usually use ISO 800 on my K10D, but the higher the better. Just keep in mind that most digital cameras take noisy photos at anything over 800 or 1600. This depends on model and make of course and can be much lower on cheaper or older cameras.

2. Low Shutter Speed – I take most of my shots between 1/30th and 1/120th of a second. Sometimes I turn the shutter speed lower if the light is really bad. You can adjust it to the higher end depending on this third tip.

3. High F-Stop – This is probably the most important ingredient to good low light photos. Granted, you could use a flash, but in most low light shots you would wash out the natural shadows and highlights. I use an old Pentax 50mm fixed kit lens with a maximum F-Stop of 1.7. It’s possible to find lenses with F-Stop’s of 1.8, 1.4, or 1.2 frequently. Keep in mind that each ‘full stop’ allows in twice the amount of light that the previous one did. Each of these would be a ‘full stop’: 1.4, 2, 2.8. More light coming into the lens means you can run a higher shutter speed at the cost of a narrower depth of field. Another thing to consider is that any lens over about F1.7 (or 1.8) is going to cost you a fortune. Chances are you can find a fixed focus or ‘prime’ lens for your camera in the 50 to 100 mm range with a 1.7 to 1.8 F-Stop for a fair price. Interestingly enough, most camera manufacturers actually list the 50mm fixed as a standard lens for their cameras. I guess people forget the beauty of simplicity in a zoom lens world.

I would like to post a little update on this part. I recently acquired a Super-Takumar 1:1.4/50mm lens and it’s spectacular. My tests in low light really don’t show much difference in light gathering over the 1.7, but I’ll keep testing and post my results eventually.

4. Manual Focus – I can’t begin to stress how important this is for low light. You just can’t trust an auto focus system if there isn’t enough light. Learn how to enable manual mode on your camera and get some practice using it. If you’re uncomfortable focusing manually use this trick of mine. Adjust the focus on your lens until you think it’s in focus and then dial it back just a bit. Start snapping your photos and dial the focus in a bit at the same time. I generally dial in and take 3 or 4 shots just to make sure I got a good one. This trick keeps me from missing 99% of my low light shots. Yes, you do end up with a lot of bad photos, but you can always delete those later.

If you have any comments, questions, or any expertise you would like to add to this article simply post a comment or email me. I’ll be sure to come back and update it as soon as possible.